GM Q2 Sales Up 7 Percent Outside the US

General Motors, who recently emerged from bankruptcy, revealed its second quarter financial results, unveiling a 7 percent increase outside the United States compared to the same period of the previous year. Chevrolet posted high sales in Asia Pacific, with deliveries improved by 17 percent.

Specifically, GM's total sales were down 15 percent compared to Q2 2008, obviously due to the same "we got sick of it" economic recession. North American sales were down to 32 percent (307,000 vehicles). Additionally, Chevrolet sales in North America fell 28 percent, "due in part to planned pickup truck production cuts to reduce inventory levels". Nevertheless, GM's share in North America was increased by around 2 points to 19.9 percent.

"We believe the strength of our products, including the Chevrolet Camaro, Spark and Malibu; award-winning Opel/Vauxhall Insignia; Wuling Sunshine Minivan and others around the world enabled us to weather an historically difficult rebirth of the new General Motors," said Jonathan Browning, vice president, global sales, service and marketing.

"We are moving quickly to respond to new market opportunities around the globe and meeting customer needs with fuel-efficient products that offer advanced technology, compelling designs and great value."

As for Asia Pacific, it was the industry's largest region so far in 2009, with an increase of 17 percent compared to the same period of the previous year. GM's Asia Pacific regional sales were up more than 22 percent while for the first half of the year, GM China managed to set a new sales record. The Wuling brand continued strong growth in China with deliveries increased by 67 percent in the second quarter compared to the same period a year ago.